Alissa Mazzocchi

Parents vs. Teenagers Essay

As I am growing up I am realizing that my parents are coming up with more and more rules each day. Sometimes they are unfair and sometimes they are okay. I know my parents care about me and just want me to grow up as a responsible young adult. Until then I still have to follow the rules my parents give me.

I am very lucky to have the parents I have. They give me some freedom but also expect me to follow and respect the rules. I think their rules are very fair and reasonable. Rules that aren’t so serious are cleaning my room, getting good grades, respecting cell phone usage, and taking care of the dogs when necessary. For me cleaning my room is not much of a rule because I always keep my room nice and organized without my parents telling me. Getting good grades is important to my parents and especially me. I try hard whether or not my parents remind me to study and to do my best. I don’t always respect my cell phone usage. Sometimes I go over my minutes and make my parents pay more than what is necessary. Taking care of the dogs is sometimes hard for me. When my mom or dad asks me to feed the dogs when I’m busy I usually tell them I don’t want to. That is when I am usually lectured into doing it or I get off the hook.

Serious rules I have include no drinking, no smoking, texting or calling my parents and telling them where I am at, and no back talking my parents. I think the rules that aren’t so serious are the rules that have some flexibility. My parents understand if I don’t do as well as they hoped to with a class. My parents give me rules because they want me to be safe, teach me good social behavior, and help teach me wrong from right. It is like my parents set up a system of rules. They tell us how it operates and what is expected of us. They then let the rest up to us. Someone once told me “Rules just get in the way of your fun.” I disagree with this because if no one ever followed the rules who would then teach us right from wrong. If I disagree with one of the rules that my parents give me I talk to them about it. I usually don’t scream or yell to get my own way. My parents usually see my side of the argument and from there decide what will happen next.

Some possible consequences for breaking the rules include the cell phone taken away, TV privileges taken away, or forbidding me to go to a party or a friend’s house. I actually do consider the punishments fair because I know they can be so much worse. The punishment usually fits the crime if they hear my side of the story. The possibility of receiving the punishment keeps me from breaking the rules because I do not like being in trouble. I don’t like having things taken away from me and not being allowed to go to a friend’s house.

The rules for my parents are similar to the rules that they give us. As teenagers they weren’t allowed to go anywhere until their rooms were cleaned. If they didn’t clean their rooms they were not allowed to go anywhere that day. They also had a no swearing rule. If they broke this rule they would have to put money in a swear jar. As my parents were teenagers they thought that some of the punishments were very unfair but some were reasonable. They think the rules and punishments they give me now are a lot fairer than the rules they were given by their parents.

I know my parents give me rules because they care about me and want me to live my life to its fullest. I will always try hard to follow my parent’s rules because I love my parents and I owe that to them. T.S. Elliot once said “It's not wise to violate rules until you know how to observe them.”